Rail-joint



(No Model.) a SheetsSheet 1.

G. L. WHEELER. RAIL JOINT.

Nd. 512,781. I Patented Jan. 16, 1894.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet '2.

'0. L. WHEELER.

RAIL JOINT.

110. 512,781. Paten ted Jan. 16, 1894.

I all! 3 Sheet-Sheet 3.

0. L.. WHEELER. RAIL JOINT.

, No 512,781. Patented Jan. 16,1894.

NITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

CLARENCE L. WHEELER, OF MARION, INDIANA.

RAIL-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,7 81, dated January16, 1894. Application filed May 1, 1893- Serial No. 472,486. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, CLARENCE L. WHEELER, of Marion, in the county ofGrant and State of Indiana, have invented a new Improvement inRail-Joints, (Case 0); and I do hereby declare the following, when takenin connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in

Figure 1, a plan view of a rail-joint constructed in accordance with myinvention, the rail-ends which it joins being shown in sectlon; Fig. 2,a view of the joint in side elevat1on; Fig. 3, an end view of the joint;Fig. al a detached plan view of the chair of the olnt; Fig. 5, anoutside edge view of the drawclamp of the joint; Fig. 6, a detachedreverse plan View of the chair of the joint; Fig. 7, a v1ew of the jointin longitudinal section, on the line ab of Fig.1; Fig. 8, a view of theolnt in transverse section on the line cd of the same figure.

My invention relates to an improvement in ralloints, and moreparticularly to a joint designed for use in the construction ofcableroads 1n which the two lines of rails are joined together andspaced by iron ties, slightly bowed, and called girders or yokes, theobject being to produce a simple and efiective joint, adapted to beattached to the ends of the said yokes, and requiring little or noattention after having been placed.

With these ends in view, my invention consists In certain details ofconstruction and combinations of parts as will be hereinafter describedand pointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention, I construct a chair A, which willpreferably be two or three times as long as it is wide. This chair has asolid or jointless longitudinal seat B, which in part supports therail-ends O C. One side of the chair is constructed with a flange D,having the combined function of a clamp and compression truss, as willbe hereinafter described, extending throughout the length of the chair,and in wardover the seat thereof, so as to bear upon the beveled upperfaces of the adjacent edges of the bases of the rail-ends, and also tobear against the adjacent faces of the webs of the rail-ends. In

middle.

order to secure the effect just mentioned, the lower portion of thebearing face of v the flange is inclined so as to be nearly horizontal,while its upper portion is made to stand in a vertical plane, andadapted in height to rise to the under face of the top of the rail. Onthe opposite side of the chair from the flange D, it is constructed witha groove E, arranged vertically, an abutment rib F, located between thegroove and the seat B of the chair, and a locking-rib G, locateddirectly above the outer wall of the said groove. The chair is furtherconstructed with a yokeopening H, which intersects its seat A aboutmidway the length thereof,and is adapted to receive the end I, of theyoke I, in such a manner that the upper face of the said end of the yokewill be flush with the said seat, whereby the yoke will take part of theload in carrying ,the rail ends, the extremities of which rest upon it.For the purpose of reinforcing the chair, it is constructed with aseries of transverse ribs J, of which, as herein shown, it hasseven,three at each end, and one in the Theseribs begin at the upperedge of the flange D, of the chair, and extend down under and around thesame, terminating in the locking rib G,thereof. On the side of the chairhaving the flange D, the three middle ribs are joined together by alongitudinal rib J, while on the opposite side of the chair thetransverse ribs arejoined .together by a virtually continuouslongitudinal rib J All of these ribs give stiffness to the chair,without materially increasing it in weight, or requiring much morestock. The middle rib is cut away upon its lower face, so as not toobstruct the application of the chair to the end I of the yoke or girderI, the chair being provided midway of its length and upon its lower facewith a transverse flat bearing-face K,

which is intersected by the opening H. The

ribs J, flanking the said bearing-face at its ends, receive the end ofthe, yoke between them, and prevent the chair from lateral displacementthereupon.

With the chair above described, I employ a draw-clamp L, having a rib Lformed upon its outer edge, and adapted to enter the groove E, formed inthe chair, asset forth. The outer edge of the. clamp is also constructedwith a longitudinal rabbet M, adapted to receive the locking-rib G. Thesaid clamp is adapted to fit over the entire beveled faces of theadjacent edges of the rail-ends, and constructed with a combined flangeand compression truss N, corresponding to the flange D, of the chair,and adapted to impinge against the adjacent faces of the webs of therailends. The chair and clamp are constructed and arranged so that whenthe latter is applied to the former, it will be positively drawn inward,and downward, so as to take up all play, and clamp the rail-ends rigidlyin the joint. Provision for causing the clamp to draw inward anddownward as described, may be made in various ways. As herein shown, Iconstruct the outer edge 0, of the clamp on an incline, so that a planview of the clamp shows it to be tapered from end to end. To co-operatewith the inclined wall 0 of the clamp, I construct the inner edge of thelocking-rib G of the chair with a corresponding inclination, whereby theopeningtformed in the upper face of the chair to receive the clamp,appears tapering in a plan view of the chair. The cooperation of theinclined edge 0 of the clamp, and the inclined rib G of the chair,causes the clamp to be positively moved inward as it is slid or driveninto place on the chair. To cause it to be positively moved downward,the lower edge of its vertical rib L is inclined, as shown by Fig. 5 ofthe drawings. When therefore the clamp is driven home, it will bepositively moved inwardly and downwardly, so as to move the rail-ends inthe chair, and take up all play therein, whereby the rail-ends arefirmly clamped in place, and held, not only by direct pressure upontheir webs, but also by downward pressure upon their bases. When theclamp is driven into place, it is prevented from being forced or rolledoutward by the resistance which it meets by the abutment of its rib L,against the abutment rib F, of the chair, and also by the coaction ofthe locking-rib G of the chair with the rabbet M, of the clamp, theprimary function, however, of the lockin g rib 'G, being to prevent theclamp from lifting the chair projecting on either side of the end of theyoke, form virtually suspended joints trusses, for being located abovethe bottom of y the chair, they take and resist downward pressuretending to bend the same longitudinally from above. In this way theflanges perform important service as compression trusses.

It is obvious that in constructing railoints in accordance with myinvention, the details herein shown and described for the chair andclamp may be varied, and I would therefore have it understood thatI donot limit myself to the exact construction herein shown and described,but hold myself at liberty to make such changes and alterations asfairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

' Having fully described myinvention, wnat I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-- a 1. A cable-road rail-joint, having achair provided with a solid or jointless seat for the rail-ends to restupon, and constructed with an opening intersecting the said seat frombelow to receive an end of a yoke or girder; in combination with adraw-clamp adapted to be applied to the upper face of the chair,substantially as described.

2. A cable-road rail-joint, having a chair provided with alongitudinalseat intersected from below by an opening adapted to receivean end of a yoke or girder, and constructed with a flange overhangingthe said seat on one side thereof; in combination with a drawclampadapted to be applied to the opposite side of the chair, and constructedto be positively drawn inward and downward, substantially as described.

3. A cable-road rail-joint, having a chair provided with a solid orjointless seat intersected from below by an opening, to receive one endof a yoke or girder, and provided with a flange overhanging the seatfrom one side thereof, and constructed with transverse and longitudinalribs for reinforcing it; in combination with a draw-clamp adapted to beapplied to the chair on the opposite side of its seat, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony ,whereof I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

CLARENCE L. WHEELER.

Witnesses:

ROBINSON H. WHEELER, E. STERNE WHEELER.

